Gardening
Tomato Troubles
Blossom end rot on tomatoes is due to a calcium deficiency often caused by fluctuations in soil moisture.
Photo courtesy of www.MelindaMyers.com
Extreme heat, drought, torrential rains, and hungry critters may be wreaking havoc on your garden. After weeding, watering, and waiting you may be finding less, diseased, or misshapen tomatoes. Don't give up. Make a few adjustments in garden maintenance to boost the current and future tomato harvests.
Blossom end rot is a common problem on the first set of fruit. It's due to a calcium deficiency often caused by fluctuations in soil moisture frequently seen on the first set of fruit and those grown in containers.
Always water thoroughly to encourage a deep robust root system. Adjust your watering as needed and mulch the soil to help keep it consistently moist. Have your soil tested before adding any calcium fertilizer. Further reduce the risk of blossom end rot by avoiding root damage when staking and cultivating your garden. Eliminating some of the roots limits the plant's ability to absorb water and nutrients. Avoid overfertilization and don't use ammonium-based nitrogen fertilizers on tomatoes.
Fortunately, it is safe to eat the firm red portion of the affected tomato. Since this is a physiological disorder, not a disease or insect problem you can cut off the black portion and toss it into the compost pile.
Cracked fruit is also common in the garden. Fluctuating temperatures, moisture stress, and improper fertilization result in irregular development of the fruit that results in cracking. You can't change the weather, but you can reduce the risk of this problem with thorough, less frequent watering to encourage deep roots. And just like blossom end rot, mulch the soil to keep it evenly moist and be sure to avoid root damage.
Several fungal diseases, such as early and late blight, septoria leaf spot, and anthracnose, can cause spots on the leaves and fruit of tomatoes. Minimize the problem by rotating your plantings whenever possible. Move your tomatoes to an area of the garden where unrelated crops, such as beans, lettuce, or onions, had been growing the previous season.
Mulching the soil also helps keep soil-borne fungal spores off the plant. Water early in the day and if possible, apply the water directly to the soil with a soaker hose, drip irrigation, or a watering wand to reduce the risk of disease.
Properly space and stake or tower your tomato plants to promote healthier growth and reduce the risk of disease. Remove any volunteer tomatoes that sprout and crowd out the current season's planting.
Remove weeds as they appear. Many serve as hosts for insect pests and diseases and compete with tomato plants for water and nutrients. Removing them before they flower and set seed eliminates hundreds of weeds you would need to pull next year.
Always clean up and dispose of disease-infected plant material in the fall. Cultural practices and growing the most disease-resistant varieties available are often enough to keep these diseases under control.
If you choose to use a fungicide, select one labeled for food crops and apply it at the first sign of the disease. Repeat applications are usually needed. Be sure to read and follow all label directions carefully whether using organic, natural, or synthetic fungicides.
Enjoy this year's harvest and continue to make any needed changes now and in the future to boost your gardening success. And as a gardener you know there is always next year.
Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books, including The Midwest Gardener's Handbook, 2nd Edition and Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses "How to Grow Anything" DVD series and the nationally-syndicated Melinda's Garden Moment TV & radio program. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine. Her web site is www.MelindaMyers.com.
Antiques
Antique Auction 338
Photo courtesy of Wayne Tuiskula
Just as the weather stays hot, so does the latest auction results and antiques and collectibles news.
In my most recent update, I discussed a TikToker who purchased a chair for $50 on Facebook Marketplace, then sold it at auction for over $100,000. An antique clothing enthusiast recently bought a handbag in an online auction and turned her own nice profit. Twenty-nine-year-old Chandler West of Charlotte, North Carolina told Fox Business News that she bid on the purse based on a blurry picture. She was the only one to bid and won it for a dollar. When the handbag was shipped to her, she thought that the pictures hadn't done it justice and that it looked great. She put the purse away and focused on other items that she won. After about a year, she took the handbag out of her closet again. After posting about the bag on a Facebook clothing group, she found that it was from the 1920s and made by Cartier. She consigned it to an auction house where it sold for $9,000.
In more undervalued item news, someone might've recently found the best thrifted item of all time, according to Yahoo! News. A thrift shop buyer found an 18-karat necklace with 82 diamonds during one of her shopping trips. The person who bought it believed it was made from “18k gold imported to France between 1893-1990.” The thrifter thought that it was made in Europe between 1850 and 1910. A local jeweler estimated the value as $2,000 in gold, although it was difficult to tell the gold's actual weight because of the multiple diamonds. The necklace was appraised at the Antiques Roadshow and the appraiser described it as an “Emerald, Diamond & Gold Necklace, ca. 1895.” The appraised value was $50,000 to $60,000, quite the increase from the $6.10 the buyer spent in the thrift shop.
In the auction world, two Spiderman comic books sold for strong prices recently. Amazing Fantasy # 15 was the first appearance of Spiderman (Peter Parker) in August of 1962. Many collectors consider this to be the Holy Grail of comic books. A 7.5 graded issue sold for $170,844 this month, according to the Antiques and Arts Weekly. After Spiderman's successful appearance in Amazing Fantasy # 15, Spiderman got a comic book series of its own. Amazing Spiderman # 1 was published in March of 1963. An issue of this comic book graded 9.6 also sold this month. It brought a bidder paying $520,380 into its web.
We are gearing up for several fall auctions. We are accepting consignments of 1960s and earlier comic books for our upcoming auction of comic books, underground comic posters, and memorabilia. We are also accepting consignments of gold and silver coins, gold and gemstone jewelry, and sterling silver flatware for another fall auction. I'll be appraising items for the public at the Finnish Heritage Society Club at Sovittaja Park in Rutland, MA on September 16th. I'll also be teaching my "Evaluating your Antiques" class on Tuesday, October 3rd at Bay Path Adult Evening School in Charlton. Please visit our website https://centralmassauctions.com for links to upcoming event.
Contact us at: Wayne Tuiskula Auctioneer/Appraiser Central Mass Auctions for Antique, Collectibles Auctions and Appraisal Services www.centralmassauctions.com (508-612- 6111).